3.25.2009

The Krusty Krab: Urban Sprawl!

I ordered the Tomix 4035 "Pension" structure with the idea of using it as a house in the 'residential' area of the layout. Once I had a chance to look at it, it really didn't look like a 'house'. I don't know what a 'Pension' house is either, so I had to envision how to re-purpose this structure into something that I could understand.

The color and the design seemed to indicate some sort of seafood restaurant. Thus, the Krusty Krab was born!There is a lot of room under the roof to add LED's and resistors, where I added 2 yellow LED's (which provide a warm glow for the dining area), a white LED (for the entrance), and an Ultraviolet LED for the 'lounge area' near the back.

For the sign on the roof, I created a sign based on some crab clipart, added in the letters, used the trusty inkjet printer, and applied to a styrene backing and glued to the roof. 2 LED's embedded into the roof provide illumination so that hungry travellers can get their crabby patties.

The interior furnishings are from Faller, who produces just about the only suitable tables and chairs for N scale that would be appropriate for an interior.Along with the beautiful Kato Denny's restaurant model, this will make an interesting addition to the 'by the road' row of restaurants that I am developing for the layout. Now I just need to figure out where to fit these buildings!

About Me

I'm into N Scale to have fun. Growing up my Dad was really big into HO (U.S.A. of course, mostly Western U.S. roads like Great Northern, Milwaukee Road, Northern Pacific, etc...) and he built me a small N Scale layout which I enjoyed as a small boy. Of the various trains I had at the time, the brand 'Minitrix' stuck in my head. As the years passed, N Scale was forgotten as new interests took my time.
As a new parent, I got back into model trains through O Gauge (Lionel and MTH). However, the cost of this scale, and the space needed for the sort of layout I wanted, made it a very frustrating hobby. Then one day at a hobby shop in California, I came across the Trix 2003 catalog; Inside this catalog were beautiful models of trains across Europe shown on beautiful layouts - and I was converted! It took a few years, but most of the O Gauge was sold (or stored) and I used the funds to start my new fantasy in N Scale.
Soon, I also discovered the amazing trains of Japan in N Scale, and begin my quest to build an interesting urban layout in a complete fantasy setting where the great trains of the world can run side by side!